Crazy for Her Love
by RobotFish
Summary: AU. When Kalin comes to the Satellite and starts the Enforcers, it begins a love triangle between Yusei, Akiza, and him. Will Yusei be able to win Akiza's heart before she falls for the wrong guy? ON HIATUS
1. Prologue: The Countdown

Hey everyone, welcome all to my next story!

Just to clarify, this story is AU and will take place in the Satellite. It will involve a YuseixAkizaxKalin love triangle, and I won't reveal who Akiza ends up with until the end (of course, one look at my other stories will give you a big clue).

Big thanks to AnimeKiwi369 and BebePanda401 for helping me out, you guys rule!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5ds, but I do own my own characters and plot.

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><p><strong>Prologue: The Countdown<strong>

People are always asking me how I knew Kalin Kessler.

"Twenty minutes," he said, gazing intently at his watch. My hands were bound behind me, strapped tightly to the metal chair in which I sat. The rope cut into my skin, and the more I struggled, the more painful it became. We were in an abandoned office building, 37 stories above the Satellite. The view of the nighttime lights would have been miraculous, majestic even, if circumstances had been different.

Kalin smirked. "This is it, Yusei. Ground zero. What we've been working for. Think of everything we've accomplished in the past few months."

For some reason, I listened to him, and I found myself flashing back to recent events, and how they changed my life. From Kalin's arrival, to forming the Enforcers, to everything with Akiza...a lot happened in just half a year. And I knew my life would never be the same. It had started as an effort spawned from the best intentions of making the Satellite a better place, and now it had turned into this monstrosity.

Nineteen minutes.

Which brought the two of us to our present situation. Right then, I knew that there were about to be many lives lost. Right then, I knew that there were hundreds of pounds of explosives under every single security building in the Satellite. I knew that in less than nineteen minutes, on the strike of midnight, Kalin would activate the detonator in his hand, blowing up said buildings that rested on said explosives. And I knew that there would be chaos, pandemonium beyond recognition, fear and hate and darkness that surpassed anything the city had ever seen. It Kalin's eyes, it was beautiful. In mine, it was the fall of the place I called home.

Eighteen minutes.

I had tried everything I could. I had tried to reason with him, tried to stop this insanity, but nothing would work. After things got out of control, they spiraled downhill faster than anyone could have ever imagined. Akiza, Jack, Crow, we all fought as hard as we could, were fighting still, but the disaster stayed its course, regardless of our help or opposition.

I thought of Akiza, the only woman I ever loved, the only one I still do love. She had tried to warn me, tell me that something bad was going to happen, that something was terribly out of place with me and Kalin. But I, in my ignorance, hadn't listened to her. If only I would have been braver, paid more attention, confessed to her earlier, then things could have turned out differently.

I thought Akiza and I were going to be happy together, but if Kalin succeeded in carrying out his plan, none of the Enforcers would ever see the light of day again. Akiza was the only thing still moving me to act, compelling me to resist Kalin's madness, making me want to end this. Because I love her...that was the reason for everything I had ever done, both good and bad.

Seventeen minutes.

"Any words to mark the occasion?" Kalin cackled.

"Mhm...cngh...nythg..." I muttered.

"What was that?" Kalin asked, ripping out my gag.

I coughed up the saliva that had built up on the dirty rag previously occupying my mouth. When you're halfway suffocating, it's hard to speak at all. "I...can't think of anything," I said.

Kalin shook his head in disappointment. I hacked up more bile, the clear liquid burning my lungs and corroding my throat. I never imagined I could ever have pushed my body this hard until it was required of me. But in the end, it had all been in vain. Kalin was about to win, and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

Sixteen minutes.

"Look at you," he spat, casting me a disgusted scowl while checking his watch again. "Fifteen more minutes until the greatest moment of your life, and all you can think about is that stupid girl! You were weak before I came here, you and all the others were nothing! And now, we're about to go down in the history books as the greatest duelists in the Satellite."

I shook my head in disbelief. It still felt like a dream to me. "How can you justify this?" I pleaded. "_How can this be happening_?"

And there, in my desperate question, in the midst of the dreaded countdown, our story begins.


	2. Chapter 1: The Sleepwalker

Sup guys, me again!

Another big thanks to AnimeKiwi369 and BebePanda401 for helping me out! If you haven't already, go check out some of their stories, they are awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5ds, but I do own my own characters and plot.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Sleepwalker<strong>

_6 months ago..._

For as long as I cared to remember, I couldn't sleep.

Despite Jack and Crow's assertions that it was just my suppressed feelings for Akiza badgering my subconscious, it remained impossible for me to drift into the land of dreams. Night after night, I found myself laying awake in bed, exhausted and worn out from the long labors of the day, but still no sleep came. My body simply refused to let go, and it became a regular occurrence for me to not get any more than an hour of sleep over the course of three days.

Jack, Crow and I worked in the scrapping center of the southwest district of the Satellite. Our work was mundane and tiring, but it paid the bills and allowed us to build our duel runners in secret at night and on our days off. Akiza worked in the education center of the Satellite, teaching children the basics of elementary curriculum. Most of them wouldn't even make it past the fifth grade, but she taught them enough to help them survive.

Akiza was also building a runner with us, though she wasn't as experienced on them as us guys. Still, she could hold her own against anyone in a duel, and her psychic abilities definitely gave her an edge in that department.

Since we lived in the Satellite, I don't need to explain the level of oppression we faced on a daily basis. Harsh quotas, long work hours, low pay, limited access to even the basic necessities of life. We constantly experienced all of these, and many more that I could list. And as you also know, such treatment did not inspire us to be law abiding citizens.

Our group took every chance we got to defy Security. Building our four duel runners was the main way that we did so, but there were other ways we rebelled. Akiza didn't just teach reading, writing and arithmetic in the education center. When no one was observing, she taught the children in her class how to play Duel Monsters, which was probably the most important skill you needed when living in this place.

The rest of us used our scrapping jobs to acquire parts for our runners we couldn't find elsewhere. It had a fitting symmetry to it; we were using New Domino's trash to build the greatest treasure anyone could ever own in the Satellite. Of course, these activities were illegal, and if anyone found out, it would land all of us a long stay in the Facility.

So why were we building runners if the risks were so high? Simple. Because when you're caged, it's human instinct to break free. Our dream was to escape, perhaps not from the Satellite, although that was the ultimate goal, but at least from the constraints placed upon us by the 'other half' of society. The runners would be freedom in themselves, our own means of leaving behind the broken pieces of lives for those few moments while we rode. That was freedom, being able to go where you wanted, to be who you wanted to be, and the four of us promised each other we would taste that freedom one day, if only for a moment.

Jack, Crow, Akiza and I had been friends since we first learned to duel, which wasn't long after we learned to walk. We had met in Martha's orphanage and quickly became inseparable over the years. School, work, dueling, we did everything together, and I felt proud to share in a special loyalty that was extremely hard to find in a place such as this. My allegiance was to my friends, and nothing could ever change that.

Of course, I began to develop...a different sort of feelings towards one of them.

Akiza and I had always been close. In fact, if you asked anyone, Akiza and I were best friends, just as Jack and Crow were considered best friends. But when I entered my teenage years, I found that my feelings for her ran much deeper than just friendship. There wasn't one sudden moment where I fell head over heels, but I definitely noticed the change over time. The blushes that crossed my face every time we got close, the tingling on my skin whenever she touched me, the nervous churning in my stomach when we snuck out at night to look at the stars.

And then, one day when we had fallen asleep together on the rooftop, I woke up with the realization that I loved Akiza Izinski.

That day was two years ago, when she was sixteen and I was seventeen. Now, twenty four months later, I still had not confessed. And who could blame me? Akiza was my best friend, and I didn't want to ruin our friendship because of my affections. I had no idea if she returned my feelings, but the thought of losing her after revealing my love was too horrible to bear.

So I stayed silent, trying to keep myself content with where we stood as friends. The issue troubled me every day, and with every waking eye, I prayed that she would someday return my love.

Jack and Crow found out about my feelings about a year ago, and they told me that Akiza had harbored the same feelings towards me longer than I had for her. Whether they were serious, joking, correct or mistaken, I didn't know. Although, I admit that their continuous prodding for me to ask her out kept the hope alive in me that one day we could be together. I tried to look for the signs like they told me, but I always ended up getting lost in her beautiful hazel eyes. Which led to her asking me if I was okay, to which I utter some lame excuse, causing us both to look away with embarrassed blushes.

God, she was so pretty, so pure and kind. And I loved every single thing about her...

But where was I? Oh yeah, I couldn't sleep.

With insomnia, nothing is real. You're never fully awake, and you're never quite asleep. You constantly wonder through life half-conscious. You sleepwalk though your day with little memory of the mundane things you did. And with a job as boring as mine (a scrap refiner and mechanic for any broken machines), it was a simple matter for my mind to zone out while my body performed the tasks it had done thousands of times before. One minute I was opening the hatch on a machine that needed fixing, the next I was tightening the last bolt as the device whirred to life again.

There is a special kind of pain your body experiences when it is unable to sleep. You feel it in your bones, in your very essence, draining the life from you with each passing moment you stay awake. The weakness is constant, always pulling at the back of your mind, slowly driving you to the brink of insanity. You are a different person in that state, an abstract sculpture of your rested self.

After a few weeks, it can completely consume you. And when you try to fight this pain by succumbing to the soft tendrils of sleep, it darts away, taking your drowsiness with it, hiding until the morning when it rushes back in full force.

Most people daydream during their mundane chores. I simply dreamed. I could stay focused when I wanted to pay attention, like when I was building my runner, or talking with my friends, or spending time with Akiza, which was when I was the most alert. I found it strange that I could consistently space out during the day while remaining perfectly awake at night. I was reversed, programmed to the wrong schedule, and I tried everything I could think of to remedy it.

I tried sleeping pills, they just made me throw up. After two painful nights hugging the toilet, I discarded that strategy. Next, I tried soothing music. I guess the sounds of waterfalls and running streams help some people sleep. All they made me want to do was urinate, which was even more detrimental to my state of restlessness. Reading didn't help, I usually finished the book by morning. Any mind puzzle only served to frustrate me. And if Crow ever tries to hypnotize me again, I will personally tear him apart.

Akiza, Jack and Crow didn't consider my lack of sleep to be a problem because I never faded in and out of reality when I was with them. My episodes of borderline narcolepsy came during work and travel. Sometimes, I would be fixing a blown circuit, and the next thing I knew, I would wake up on the other side of the factory, working the assembly line with no memory of the job I had just done.

I was seriously beginning to wonder if my condition was putting me in any danger. I asked my manager about it, but he gave me a confused look and told me that I was filling my quota and performing my job perfectly. I debated pressing the issue, but I stayed silent in fear of being put of psyche leave.

Besides the pervasive lapses in my memory, my insomnia came with another side effect: apathy. I found it hard to care about anything. The enthusiasm I previously felt when working on my runner disappeared. The joy that came with dueling faded. The happiness wasn't there anymore when I hung out with my friends. The only thing that I could halfway care about was my feelings for Akiza.

And that was where I finally found my answer.

The solution came to me like all other great ideas come to great men and women: by accident. Jack and Crow, even though they were only trying to annoy me, turned out to be right. I took the time to think back to the first time I had trouble sleeping, and I concluded that my insomnia began around the same time I realized my love for Akiza. My feelings for her were the source of my problem, and by chance or by fate, they became the answer.

It was a hot summer night in Martha's orphanage, where the four of us still lived, and as usual, I couldn't sleep. I climbed up to the rooftop to feel the light summer breeze, hoping that it would allow me to silently drift off and rest. It did not. After an hour of frustrating failure to slip out of consciousness, I decided to relocate myself. I moved to the spot where Akiza and I would gaze at the stars together, and it was there that I found my answer.

I discovered, that if I slept on my side, I had a perfect view of Akiza's bedroom. I saw her peacefully sleeping on her bed, her chest rhythmically rising and falling, and I couldn't help but stare at her. Before I go any further, let me assure you that I had no perverted intentions, and I never used this line of sight to violate her privacy or her dignity.

But creepy as it sounds, watching Akiza sleep was the most relaxing thing I had ever done. And there, while gazing in wonder at the most beautiful angel in the heavens and the earth, I felt my eyelids grow heavy as the comfortable blackness overtook my vision.

Babies don't sleep as well as I did that night.

It became a strange routine for me to sneak out of my room at night, onto the roof, and back to the secret spot I shared with Akiza. I always made sure that she was asleep (and yes, she sleeps with pajamas on) before I made my venture. I never told anyone about the solution I had found, partially because they might think I was a creep, but mostly because I didn't want Akiza to find out that I had been practically spying on her for the past few weeks.

If Akiza herself knew, then she would definitely confront me about it, and then I would have no choice to tell her how I felt. And telling someone 'I love you' when they just found out you've been peeking through their window at night usually doesn't turn out very well.

So like my feelings for Akiza, I kept my midnight ventures a secret. The way I saw it, they helped me sleep and they didn't hurt anyone else, so it was the best thing to do. I stopped spacing out at work, my enthusiasm returned when I worked on my runner, and I became happier than I had in a long time. My friends must have recognized this, because they started to be more jovial and less serious around me. We began to laugh together like we had before, and for a few months life was beginning to seem normal again.

...And along came Sayer.

I did my best to not hate anyone, but Sayer was a man for whom I would make an exception. He was a transfer from the north district of the Satellite, reassigned to work in the southwest education center. He worked in the same building as Akiza, and I quickly began hearing stories about the new citizen instructor in town. Akiza said he was an exceptional teacher, and that he secretly taught his students how to duel as well. The first time I saw him was about a week after I began hearing the stories.

I was meeting Akiza outside of the education center since I had a day off, and the two of us were about to eat dinner together. I enjoyed spending time alone with Akiza more than anything, and I was looking forward to this night all week.

But when she was walking out of the building, I noticed a man with her. He looked to be a couple of years older than us, about my height and build. His copper hair fell in front of his face, and he wore a tan trench coat over his work uniform. I immediately felt distaste towards him. Even from twenty yards away, I could see how he was staring hungrily at Akiza, his eyes on fire with a fiendish desire. Of course, Akiza was always too kind and considerate to notice, but I did. He wanted her for all the wrong reasons, and his face became the very embodiment of everything I ever hated.

"Yusei!" she said, running and giving me a hug. I cracked my eye open while she was in my arms and found Sayer staring daggers right through me. I shot him a small smirk, letting him know that Akiza was already taken, and if looks could kill, both of us would have suffered a painful death.

We parted. "It's good to see you," I said.

"Good to see you too," she chirped. Akiza turned and motioned me over to her company, which I reluctantly approached. "Sayer, this is Yusei. The one I've told you about."

I took his hand and shook it, both of us squeezing much harder than necessary. "Well well, the _famous_ Yusei Fudo," he said. "Akiza has told me so much about you. Since the two of us, of course, have gotten to know each other _so_ well."

He spoke with venomous emphasis on his words, and I felt my eyes curve into a glare. "Well, I'm glad Akiza told you about me. She and I have known each other for _years_," I bit back. I could play that game too, you sneaky son of a bitch. "And I've heard some _interesting_ things about you as well."

Akiza smiled. "See? I knew you guys would hit it off in no time!"

We talked for a while longer, both of us competing for Akiza's attention, and I was elated when Akiza and I finally left to go eat, leaving Sayer behind with a furious leer on his face. I made up my mind right then and there that I would never, EVER let him put his filthy hands on my precious rose. Just let him try, he would regret it for the rest of his pathetic life!

My livid mood quickly dissipated over dinner with my favorite person in the world, and the walk back home was peaceful and relaxing. I toyed with the idea of kissing her once we got back, but again, my cowardice did not allow me to make such a bold move. Instead we just said goodnight, went back to our rooms, and after a good hour I crept onto my secret spot.

But sleep did not come to me.

After getting only an hour of rest, I decided that it must have just been something I ate. But the next night, it happened again. And again. And on and on until I realized that my insomnia had returned. I felt like pulling my hair out and clawing open my skull until I had torn out the offending part of my brain that was keeping me awake, night after night after night. It seemed better than returning to my state of half-reality.

I soon figured out why falling asleep to Akiza no longer worked. Previously, I knew that Akiza was interested in only her friends, in only me. I knew that there were no others that she could possibly fall in love with that I didn't know about, and that I had all the time in the world to figure out how to confess my feelings. But now, Sayer was with her almost every day. And I felt threatened by that.

Now, what was to stop her from falling for him? Every time I laid on the roof and watched her sleep, I couldn't stop the hallucinations of her laying there with Sayer from entering my head. I involuntarily imagined them kissing, imagined them being together while I watched the love of my life give her heart to another man. Even though I knew the idea was farfetched and mostly ridiculous, it made sleep impossible to come by yet again.

Then something really weird happened. At least, really weird by that day's standards. My manager called me in and told me that my performance was better than ever, and that he was promoting me to the position of chief mechanic of the southwest district. Naturally, I didn't understand what merit I had achieved to deserve such a position because I remembered so little of the work I had done lately. But I just nodded my head and smiled, graciously accepting the promotion. You didn't ask where good luck came from in the Satellite, you took it and wrung it out for all it was worth.

When I told the others, they were even happier than I was. This new job would mean more money and less hours for me, which left more time for working on runners and even better access to parts we needed. The job description mainly involved touring the factories in the district, making sure all the machines were working properly, and ordering new equipment and parts as needed by the manufacturers. A few forged signatures here, a little insertion into the order forms there, and we now had corporate sponsorship. This was how we were able to complete our runners within three months.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My criminal escapade of forgery and larceny began involuntarily when Jack handed me a list of a few parts he needed to get his streamline jets working properly.

"Here," Jack said. "See if you can pick these up."

"What are these?" I asked, half awake and not really caring what the answer was.

"Parts I need, I'm stuck without them," he replied. "Maybe you can find them, considering you're some kind of big-shot now."

I pocketed it and went off to do my tour of Factory 3, which needed inspection and had requested more equipment to raise their output. I walked into the factory and began looking around.

The next thing I knew, I woke up standing with my manager, now my associate, holding a clipboard while he signed his name on the dotted line. He shot me a grin and walked off, an unusual spring in his step. I had no idea what had just occurred, and I examined the piece of paper that I had just unknowingly gotten verified. On it was a list of various manufacturing essentials, from scrap iron to socket wrenches.

But also on the list were the exact parts Jack needed, requested in bulk. When I reached into my pocket for the list Jack had given me, I found all of the items crossed out with graphite, like groceries off a shopping list. Perhaps his teasing had set off some deep seeded idea inside of me and prompted my unconscious self to act.

It took me the rest of the day to realize that yes, I had doctored the order, and that I had apparently requested the extra parts in bulk as to avoid suspicion from any watchful eyes. Jack and the others were astonished and impressed when I brought home the entire list in one fell swoop. I think that was the first time we all realized how powerful my new position could be.

From then on, the four of us would write down what we lacked in our current stages of duel runner assembly, and I would carry the lists with me as I worked. Sometimes the forgery would be conscious, sometimes I woke up with a fake order form in my hands with half my list crossed off. Either way was fine with me as long as I acquired the items I needed without getting caught. I didn't worry about the consequences very often, my manager was too busy fawning over the increase in productivity I had caused to notice my smuggling.

But despite the favorable turn my working life had taken, I was still suffering from insomnia. Building my runner became a chore again, even with the new parts I had access to. That dark cloud of apathy and weakness began to creep into my frame, and I felt myself drifting back into that ravine of hopelessness from which I had briefly escaped. To top it all off, my painful longing for Akiza had never been stronger.

And it was then, in my backwards lapse into restlessness caused by my sickening worry over the woman I love, that I met Kalin Kessler.

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><p>Like it? Hate it? Be sure to review and let me know!<p>

Next chapter: Yusei and Kalin meet and the drama begins!


	3. Chapter 2: The Introduction

Hey everyone, RobotFish again!

Here's the next chapter. Things are about to get exciting.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5ds, but I do own my own characters and plot.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Introduction<strong>

It was a dark, cloudy day in November when I first met Kalin Kessler.

The factories were working more efficiently than ever, thanks to me. Or rather, thanks to my 'alter ego' that took over when my fits of narcolepsy occurred. Our group didn't fake many order forms any more, due to the fact that my extra pay was enough to cover most of our mechanical needs. That promotion was the best thing that had happened in a good while.

But I didn't have much time to enjoy it. I had, more or less, succumbed to my insomnia, and I was halfway ready to give up and live the rest of my life in this distant state of inattentiveness that had plagued me for so long. I had tried everything, and I literally mean everything, to lose consciousness and dream again. I even attempted to knock myself out cold in order to gain a few hours of rest. A massive headache was all that I gleaned from that experience.

It was getting to the point where my friends were becoming concerned with my state of affairs. Jack and Crow simply asked if I was alright once in a while, a question I waved off with some sorry excuse for an answer. The guys never pressed any further, knowing that they would get the same answer they always got in the past two years; I can't sleep, I'm tired, I need to find a way to rest.

Akiza was different. She genuinely cared about my pain, meaning she didn't just ask because something seemed wrong with me. She asked because she was concerned and because she didn't want me to be suffering, as I was. After a few attempts to coerce me into talking, I opened up and told Akiza about my insomnia, the pain it caused me, and the blank spaces that were proliferating in duration and volume.

She tried to help me, but nothing worked. I left out the reason for my state of restlessness, my love for her and my worry she would reject me, so any help she could offer was in vain. It wasn't her fault, it was mine for being such a coward, but the thought of losing her was too much for me to bear. I would rather not sleep a day in my life than live without Akiza.

That morning was one of the times when she was concerned about me.

"Yusei," she said.

I paused in my welding, lifted up my mask and gave her what was left of my smile. "Yeah Akiza?" I was working on my runner, but I always had time for her.

She sighed, knowing the road we were about to travel. "Are you sure you are alright today?" she said. I had reassured Akiza that I could function despite my condition, but she always insisted I take a day off if the pain became too much to bear. I always declined and said I was fine.

"Yeah, I'll make it," I said. I flipped my mask back on and started the welding torch again. "Cover your eyes, it gets bright over here."

I tuned my attention back to my runner and was about to start welding again, but I felt a gentle hand fall on my shoulder. I looked up and Akiza was staring at me with hopeful eyes.

I stood up, took off my mask and shot her a quizzical glance. "What's gotten you so happy?" I asked.

"You remember Sayer, from the education center?" she asked.

My blood boiled. "What about him?"

"Well," Akiza started. "It turns out...he's a psychic duelist as well!"

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I thought they were...never mind. As relieved as I was, this new development was interesting, and I wanted to know more. That scrawny prick was psychic?

"Really?" I said. "How'd you find out?"

"He told me," Akiza said. "I was dueling with the kids, and he must have noticed. He showed me his powers after we got done teaching, and I think he might even be better than me!"

I chuckled. "Well, I doubt that. But sounds like this Sayer guy has been hiding some things." I still hated Sayer. Always have, always will.

It was Akiza's turn to raise an eyebrow at me. "Since when did you get so suspicious of people?"

I shrugged. "He just...rubs me the wrong way..."

"I guessed as much," Akiza said. "There seemed to be a little tension between you two..."

You have no idea, I thought.

"Well, I'm off to work," she chirped. "I won't be home until late, Sayer is going to help me out with my powers afterwards."

I froze. What the hell did I just hear? My eyes widened, and all of my conscious nightmares came rushing back to me. I couldn't let this happen, I couldn't let him take Akiza away from me!

"O-oh, really?" I asked, trying to sound casual. "I was, ah-...actually thinking we...could grab dinner tonight?"

Akiza frowned. "Oh, well...I kinda already told Sayer I would be there. He's really good with his powers, and I need some help controlling mine..."

My heart sank. My greatest fear was coming true; Akiza was choosing another man over me. It was childish to jump to such a conclusion with such minimal evidence, but my sleep deprivation had driven me to the borderline of lunacy. In my mind, this was a step down the long and painful path to heartbreak, and I knew that I wouldn't ever be able to sleep if Akiza ended up with Sayer.

I nodded. "Okay...well...have fun, I guess," I choked out. I flipped my mask back on in an attempt to hide the hurt that crossed my face.

So Akiza left for work, Jack and Crow too, and I worked on my runner for an hour more. Or rather, I tried to work while visions of Akiza and Sayer danced through my head like rotting sugarplums. Time passed by, and I eventually left for work as well.

I was inspecting Factory 6 today, a routine check-up that all manufacturing centers in the Satellite went through at least once every two weeks. The walk over to Factory 6 was short, considering it was the closest factory to Martha's orphanage. My feet fell heavily as I sleepwalked through the streets, weariness eating through my bones.

If you couldn't tell already, I was in a bad mood. Knowing that Akiza was going to be with Sayer made my day all the more difficult to get through, and it felt like twice the weight of the world had been piled on my shoulders. I think that was the only day that I ever welcomed my mind to space out and drift out of reality. Anything that made that day go faster was fine with me.

I arrived at the factory a few minutes late, which my manager dismissed since I had been performing my duties well. He handed me a clipboard and pointed me towards the west sector of the factory. I was supposed to check each machine's integrity and efficiency, making careful note of any deviations from protocol. Fun.

It was around the fourth machine that I spaced out. I couldn't tell you for how long, but this episode was different from those before me. I didn't just zone out and wake up as if nothing happened. I actually felt...rested. I woke up as if from a dream, and some of the mind-numbing pressure behind my eyelids was gone. I smiled for the first time in weeks and found myself sitting in the east sector, watching some workers reassemble a machine.

That was...refreshing...I had actually slept! Even thought it was borderline narcolepsy, the amount of relief I felt was immense.

"Interesting isn't it?" a voice said beside me.

I turned to my left, and in the chair next to me sat a man with snow-white hair. He looked to be about my age, perhaps a little older, and his amethyst eyes gazed at the workers with expert patronization.

I was taken aback. "Erm, what is?" I asked.

He turned and flashed a toothy smile at me. From his uniform I could guess he worked at a higher end position in the Factory, probably a sector manager. "Interesting..." he elaborated, "how machines keep breaking every week."

"I guess so," I said, not really caring. I didn't care about most machines, save my duel runner.

The man leaned in closer, as if to whisper a secret, and there was a menacing gleam in his eyes. "Do you know why every single machine in the factory requires extensive maintenance on a weekly basis, even those recently repaired?"

My ears perked up. Was this guy crazy? I cleared my throat. "Because...they're all pieces of crap?"

Still smirking, the man shook his head. "Nope. These are some of the finest models on the market, built for maximum efficiency and superior production." His voice was almost reverent, but in a mocking sense.

He leaned in closer. "You see, the Satellite produces more goods than New Domino city could ever use. Where do those extra goods go? Well, the logical answer would be the Satellite, right? Give the hard workers some much deserved compensation, throw the blue collar laborers a bone? But no. They get rid of it."

I opened my mouth to speak, about to tell him that overflow was stored for repair and distribution to the residents in each sector of the Satellite, but there was no pause in his practiced rant. His words were coming out at an incredible rate.

"I know what you're going to say," he countered before I even offered an explanation. "Redistribution, repair for valuable assets, giving back to the people, blah blah blah. Thing is, New Domino wants us to stay as the bottom feeders, and shrimp aren't shrimp if they rise out of the mud and start swimming."

I think his zoology was a little off.

"So," he continued. "How do they remedy this situation? Simple, they waste the overflow. A broken gear here, a malfunction there, and all of the sudden our overflow disappears into the machines and businesses of the Satellite. Perpetual expenditures, that's how they control us."

My head was spinning. This guy was insane, and yet the workings of his mind were strangely and dangerously attractive. "So...you think that Security intentionally breaks the machines so there is no overflow to redistribute to the workers?" I asked.

"Yup," he said, leaning back in his chair again.

"That's an...interesting theory," I replied.

We sat in silence for a moment. As wild a conspiracy theory it was, I wouldn't put it past security to squander any extra goods produced in order to keep us in check. This guy ranted like a madman, but it all made perfect sense in a strange sort of way. I couldn't help but feeling like I was making a friend.

He leaned in again. "Did you know that if you mix equal parts of gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate you can make napalm?"

Okay, maybe not. "No...I didn't know that. Wait, is that really true?" Friend or not, this guy had sparked my interest.

"That's right," he said. "One could make all kinds of explosives, using simple household items."

I was stunned. "...Really?"

"If one were so inclined," he answered, shooting me a clever grin. There it was again, that dangerous excitement. He was the kind of person that you didn't have to understand, only listen to in silent awe. He offered his hand to me, the first civilized gesture I had seen him perform.

"Kalin Kessler," he said.

We shook. "Yusei Fudo," I said.

Kalin stood up from his seat and gestured towards the other end of the factory. "Well, I've gotta go pretend like I give a shit about productivity," he said. "Nice meeting you, maybe we can duel sometime."

I felt a spark of excitement that someone so interesting would want to duel someone as commonplace as me. "Umm, sure. How'd you know I was-"

"Saw one of your duels by the docks a week ago," Kalin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You've got a reputation for being a fierce duelist where I come from."

This made me do a double-take. If I was well known in the Satellite for being a good duelist, it was news to me. Sure, I was on a pretty big winning streak, but that was nothing for everyone to fawn over.

I smiled. "Thanks...where exactly do you come from?" I asked.

Kalin shrugged. "Around," he coolly replied. With a raise of the chin and a half wave, Kalin began to walk away, but not before muttering one last pithy remark to me. "By the way," he said. "Next time you forge an order, make sure you let me know ahead of time. It's hard enough to cover your ass as it is."

He was gone before I could ask any questions.

The only thing I could think of for the rest of the day was what Kalin meant. Perhaps I wasn't as flawless with my forgery as I believed. Perhaps the only reason I had successfully defied security was because I had help from a complete stranger who pushed all the right buttons to make sure my extortion remained a secret. But why would anyone do that?

The only explanation I could think of was that Kalin held the same contempt towards security the rest of us did. Perhaps he didn't care who was breaking the rules as long as the rules were being broken. It seemed strange, but Kalin was a far sight from a normal youth.

The rest of the day was uneventful, but I did not space out once after meeting Kalin. I made my rounds, apathetically inspecting machines and writing down orders. I didn't forge any that day, Kalin's cryptic farewell made me weary about how closely the order forms were actually being watched. I would back off for the time being, at least until I could figure out a foolproof way to falsify the forms again.

I heard the quitting time bell, and I did not hesitate to vacate the premises. Home wasn't far away, and I wanted to see if I could manage to make some progress on my runner. I tried not to think about Akiza with Sayer, which was my main motivation for delving into mechanics; numbing my mind until Akiza got home.

The walk home was short, but only because I was still deciphering the motivation behind assisting someone you've never seen in a crime that is of no benefit to you. It just didn't seem like Kalin was telling me the whole story, although he barely told me anything at all save the fact he knew about my forgery.

I arrived at our garage at Martha's orphanage to find the door unlocked, which meant someone was already home. Strange, I thought, since Jack and Crow were still working and Akiza was with Sayer. God, I hated that.

I opened the door and strode in to find a duel disk thrown carelessly on the floor. Cards were strewn out on the ground, and I recognized several of the ones face-up. Glow-up bulb...Dark Verger...Pollinosis...this was Akiza's deck. But what was it doing there?

I heard a strange sound coming from the bedrooms, and I slowly walked towards the source. I soon recognized the sound to be muffled crying, and I immediately rushed through the hallway and into the bedroom.

Akiza had her head buried in a pillow, weeping into it with frame shaking sobs. I ran over and knelt beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. My heart broke when she looked at me, her face stained by tears, and I felt a gut wrenching pain that my precious rose was hurting inside.

"Y-Yusei..." she choked out.

"Akiza, I-" I froze.

Across Akiza's cheek was a dark blue bruise.

My insides lit on fire and a terrible rage built inside of me as I surveyed the damage. I raised a shaky hand to the mark and brushed it lightly, causing Akiza to wince in pain. She looked into my eyes with her hazel orbs filled with fear and sorrow. Then she buried her head in my chest and began to cry again as I held her tightly.

"Akiza," I barely managed. "What happened?"

She spoke between sobs. "It was Sayer...we were practicing our powers and...he told me that I should...come away with him to...another sector...where a bunch of psychics were...and I said no, and he...he grabbed me, and he...hit me..."

I hugged her even tighter as I felt a surge of guilt tear through my chest. She had trusted Sayer with her most valuable secret, and he had betrayed that trust. That bastard hurt my precious rose, and I let it happen. If I had told her what I really thought, if I had done more to protect her, this wouldn't have happened. I silently thanked the heavens that nothing worse had happened, the mere thought making me shudder.

She wiped her eyes and sat up. "I thought someone else understood me, understood my powers. But...he just wanted to use me," she said, lamentation in her voice.

"Akiza," I said. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault-"

"No," she said. "It's not, Yusei. Bad things happen...let's just move on."

"But what about Sayer?" I said. "You'll have to face him tomorrow at work."

Akiza closed her eyes. "I...I'll think of something..."

We stayed that way for a while, her in my arms. It would have been a wonderful feeling if the circumstances were different, but I was glad that Akiza found comfort in me. I made myself a promise that I would never let anything bad happen to her ever again. I would find a way to get rid of Sayer, or at least keep him away from Akiza.

And that, by a turn of unusual events, was where Kalin came into the picture.

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><p>So, for those of you asking where Kalin was going to come in, here ya go!<p>

Next chapter, how will Kalin and Yusei resolve the situation with Sayer?


	4. Chapter 3: Bonding

Hey people!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I just started college and it's getting increasingly hard to find time for fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5ds, only my own characters and plot.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Bonding<strong>

I wanted to put a bullet between the eyes of every sick bastard that even thought about touching my precious rose. I wanted to toss Sayer into a raging inferno and listen to him scream. I wanted him to experience eternal damnation in the deepest pits of Hell.

The rest of that night consisted of Akiza crying into my shoulder while I comforted her in my arms. An occasional patting of her bruised cheek with a damp rag was the closest I ever got to kissing her, even when it was clear she was looking to me for consolation. It wouldn't be right either, to take advantage of Akiza when she was in such a vulnerable position. I loved her too much to even think about that.

Jack and Crow were just as furious as I was.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Jack cried when they got back to the garage and Akiza was asleep. "Let's go kick his ass!"

"Yeah Yus!" Crow said. "Let's teach this guy a lesson!"

I shook my head. There were a number of problems with that course of action, most of which were unsolvable. The first was simple; we didn't know where he lived. And even if we hacked a computer or paid someone off, that knowledge would hardly be worth it. Sayer was an educator, and people who worked in the Education Center had more leverage than lowly factory workers. In the battle between intelligent scholar and brawny grunt, the former always won.

I told them this, but they were still adamant about beating up Sayer. The truth was that I wanted to see that son of a bitch squirm more than anyone, but the consequences would be worse than any amount of vindication it brought.

Akiza must have known what all of us guys were thinking. A few days later, she pulled me aside in private one day and gave her opinion.

"I don't want you to hurt Sayer," she said.

My eyebrows raised. The guy treated her like dirt and she still cared about his safety? "Why not?" I asked.

"Because you'll get in trouble," Akiza said. "And revenge won't solve anything. I don't want anybody getting sent to the Facility because of me."

"But you work with him," I said. "You'll have to face him every single day at your job. And Sayer will flaunt it in your face, trust me. He knows we can't touch him without some form of punishment, and he won't be shy about reminding you of that every single day. You won't ever feel safe there again, is that what you want?"

Akiza's eyes watered. "I know that, Yusei. But I care too much about you to-...about you guys to risk your safety. Please...I don't want Sayer to get beat up if it means I have to lose the people I care most about."

I soon saw that her concern was not for Sayer, but for Jack, Crow, and me. Akiza assured me that she could handle seeing Sayer, that she would stay strong and not let him get to her. And since she was the strongest person I knew, I didn't object.

It was a mistake. The first few days were normal, the only thing different being Akiza's playful venting to me about what jerk move Sayer pulled that day. It briefly became a topic of laughter between us, but there was an ever present heaviness in Akiza's smile that was not previously there. I wondered if I should ask if anything was wrong, but I kept my mouth shut and pretended to believe that Sayer was no longer a problem..

Then one day she came home from work crying. She locked her door and wouldn't let anyone in for three hours, after which she finally opened up for me. She told me everything that had been happening in the past two weeks. The hurtful comments and snide smiles. The double meaning behind every word he said, the borderline threats to her safety. All of this had been going on without my knowledge, but it now came screaming out of the closet.

I didn't know what to do.

The only reason Sayer hadn't touched her again was probably because he knew how protective I was. But despite his wariness of my wrath, I knew that Sayer believed himself to be invincible. He reveled in the fact that I couldn't touch him, and if I knew his mistreatment of Akiza was his way of daring me to strike him. He was well aware of his immunity, and I hated it.

We were stuck. Sayer was a problem we couldn't solve, and I was miserable knowing that Akiza had to suffer. My insomnia hadn't been as bad lately, which would have made me happy if it weren't for the circumstances.

I was taking a walk outside one night, not because I couldn't sleep, but because I was trying to discover some way to solve the Sayer problem without endangering anyone's safety or freedom. Akiza had applied for a transfer, but it was denied due to 'lack of dire circumstances'. And it was near impossible for her to avoid him. These thoughts dragged through my mind as I passed through the docks.

"Top of the morning to ya," a voice came.

I paused. I knew that voice, that tone of dark superiority. I turned around to face my company. "Kalin? What are you doing here? And it's night, not morning."

By chance, fate, or the will of God, the person I least expected to meet again was loitering right in the middle of my path. He shot me a toothy grin after jumping off the stack of barrels he sat upon. "Well, it's 6 minutes past midnight, so technically it is morning," he replied. "So what brings a big shot factory manager out here at this hour?"

The white haired man started walking beside me, the confident spring in his step still present. He was always straight to the point. "Well, I uh...couldn't sleep." I didn't want to tell him about the true source of my restlessness, Akiza's abuse at the hands of Sayer.

Kalin shrugged. "Insomnia sucks, huh?"

"Yeah, I-...wait, how did you know I had-"

"It's in your body language," Kalin said. "And the dark bags under your eyes are a telltale sign, along with your spaced out expressions and all around shitty demeanor. You should take some pills for that, I can get you some for cheap-"

"That's alright..." I interrupted. "I tried pills, they didn't help." I didn't want to know where he got his medications from either.

"Suit it yourself," he replied. We walked together for a while in silence, the cool evening breeze blowing across the water. I hadn't thought much of Kalin since the time we first met, but the few moment of attention I did pay him were filled with a quizzical admiration. He seemed so confident, so collected, so sure of himself in every situation or topic. I had to admit, I envied that air of security he possessed.

Kalin gave me a strange look. "Alright, you don't have to tell me."

"Tell you what?" I asked. I suddenly became defensive, though I didn't know why.

"Come on Yusei," he prodded. "We both know you're up for a reason, not because of some pathetic sleeping disorder. If you really were suffering from severe insomnia right now, you would be desperately trying to fight it off in your bed. So what's really bothering you?"

"It...I mean, I..."

"Your secret is safe with me Yusei. Hell, if you killed a man I wouldn't rat you out."

As morbid as that last comment was, it inspired a certain amount of trust. If you asked me today, I couldn't tell you why I decided to confide in Kalin, a stranger that I only met two weeks ago. I knew nothing about him, but at the same time I felt as if I knew him better than myself. Or perhaps it was because I aspired to gain his level of confidence one day.

So I told him. I told him about Sayer's crime against the person I cared most about, how Akiza felt scared and insecure every day she went to work, and the burning desire I had to smash that bastard's face in. I left out the part about my feelings for Akiza, and Kalin didn't ask if he suspected I loved her. Although, my guess was he was already well aware of my feelings.

"Damn," Kalin said. "So why not teach the son of a bitch a lesson?"

"Because there would be too much backlash," I said. "He's an educator, and if I so much as touch him, he would report me to sector security. I would spend a few months or years in the Facility, and then there would be no one to protect Akiza. And besides, I don't even know where he lives..."

Kalin nodded, the gears in his head turning. "I see..."

We walked for a little longer, again in silence until we parted ways outside of the docks and I retired to the garage again, Kalin giving me a short wave and a quick goodbye. He didn't ask to come in, and I didn't bother inviting him. Akiza, Jack and Crow were already asleep, so I decided to work on my runner for a while. I knew I wouldn't be getting any rest that night.

As I worked, I couldn't help but think about Kalin. In a way, he was the epitome of everything I wanted to be, minus a bit of the insanity. Sure, he came off a little hostile at times, but in the end, you simply could not argue with his composure. It made him seem unshakable, even invincible. If only I had nerves that steady when I talked to Akiza. Perhaps I would have confessed by now.

I got a solid two hours. The next day was just as horrible as the rest, Akiza coming home on the brink of tears yet again. Sayer had threatened her more directly today, and fear was growing inside of Akiza that he would assault her again, perhaps even worse. I tried comforting her again, but my words of solace were becoming less and less effective in the face of Sayer's malice.

Akiza went to bed early, and so did I. It was becoming increasingly harder to live with myself, knowing every moment that Akiza was in danger. I was beginning to drift off when someone shook me awake.

"Crow, I'm not in the mood for late night dueling..." I mumbled.

"Get up manager boy."

My eyes snapped open. That wasn't Crow. That was...

I sat up. "Kalin? How did you get in here? And why are you in my house?"

"You left the door unlocked genius," he replied. Kalin tossed me a black jacket. "Get dressed, we're going out."

"What?" I asked. I was completely and utterly confused that that point. "Where?"

"You'll see," he said as we walked out the door.

Against my better judgment, I followed him. When I met him outside and started asking question, he didn't bother to answer. He simply motioned for me to follow him and began jogging through the streets of the Satellite. Reluctantly, I kept pace with him towards out unknown destination.

We wove through alleyways and barren backyards, dodging around 'Do Not Enter' signs and chain link fences. I soon recognized the area we had entered as the surroundings of Factory 2, my least favorite site to inspect. Out of all the parts of our district, Factory 2's area was the most infested with gangs and wanted fugitives. It was a bad place to be, and we avoided it at all costs.

We stopped at a broken down apartment complex that was even rattier than our garage. Kalin opened the front door and entered without knocking, but I stayed put outside.

"Kalin, stop!" I hissed. "We're trespassing, we could-"

"Oh grow up," Kalin said. "These buildings haven't had proper tenants in years." He pushed the door open farther and gestured for me to go inside.

Again ignoring the voice of common sense, I followed. The inside was dark, a few candles lighting the hallways. There were a few residents (or squatters, I didn't know which) that were spaced out in the building, none of which paid Kalin and me any mind. It must have been common for people to pass through the building, considering they didn't even bother to lock the doors.

We walked up a flight of raggedy stairs to the second floor, where the building was even more abandoned. I saw no tenants in the halls, and the only light came from a single swaying light bulb in the middle of the den. That was the closest thing to a horror movie scene I had ever experienced. Kalin finally stopped at a door with a missing number. He reached into his jacket and drew out two black ski masks.

"Put this on," he whispered, tossing one to me.

"Are you crazy?" I hissed. "What the hell are we going to do with these?"

"You'll see," he said again. He pulled the black fabric over his head, giving him the appearance of a bank robber you would see on a cops show. My mind was reeling at this point, but whatever Kalin was going to do, I didn't want anyone to associate my face with it. I think that was his point in the first place. I pulled my mask on, my hands trembling with anxiety and fear.

Kalin knocked on the door. My stomach was in knots. I didn't know who lived in that room, but I could guess.

There was the metallic sound of a deadbolt unlocking, and the door opened by a few inches. "What the...?" came a voice from behind the door. I knew it before I even saw him. It was Sayer. "Who the hell are you?"

There was a split second where I worried that Sayer would recognize one of us despite the masks. I put that question on the back burner when Kalin kicked open the door, tearing the lock from its hinges. There was a slight rebound and a cry of pain from the other side. The wooden door must have made contact with Sayer's head.

Kalin stepped inside of the apartment and jumped on top of Sayer, who had fallen back onto the floor. Kalin began punching Sayer repeatedly in the face, his merciless blows raining down unchecked upon the unsuspecting psychic. By the time I got inside, Sayer's nose was already broken as Kalin struck again and again. The floor was stained with droplets of blood.

I wanted to throw up. Sayer deserved every stinging blow of Kalin's beating, but breaking into his house and assaulting him was not how I envisioned resolving the issue. And I knew the story before I could even ask. Kalin must have followed Sayer home from the education center, seen where he lived, waited until dark, and the he showed up at house and coerced me into following him.

"Kalin, stop!" I cried. I tried to restrain him, but Kalin was too strong. He shoved me off and continued beating Sayer to a bloody pulp. The psychic wasn't even trying to defend himself now. He just took the punches as they came, a sickening thud resounding each time Kalin's fist struck his face.

"Dammit Kalin, that's enough!" I shouted. "You're going to kill him!"

Kalin grabbed Sayer by the collar and delivered one final blow to Sayer's cheek. Sayer recoiled and laid on the floor, coughing up blood and groaning in pain. Kalin took a firm hold of Sayer's shirt and lifted him up so the two were looking each other in the eye. I couldn't read Sayer's expression through the caked layers of blood and swelling on his face.

"I don't like you," Kalin hissed, his voice menacing. "You think you can come down here from north side and do whatever the hell you want? You think you're invincible, is that it?"

All Sayer could manage was a gurgling sound. Blood was running out of his mouth, staining his clothes and the floor.

Kalin glared. "I want you out of town. And if I come back tomorrow and you're still here, then you'll be begging me to finish you off."

I thought we were done, the conflict was over and it was time to run, when Kalin did the most reckless thing yet. He reached up and removed his mask. Sayer's eyes grew wide and he let out a gasp of fear. He tried to speak a few panicked words, but they came out as gibberish. His jaw must have been broken.

"That's right, you know my face," Kalin said. "And you know what you did to piss me off. But if you disappear by tomorrow, then I might just forget I ever met you." Kalin threw Sayer down and stood up.

"Oh, and a friendly piece of advice..." Kalin said, dusting off his jacket. "Don't _ever_ fuck with me again. Or I _will_ end your life."

And with that, we left.

After we got back to the garage, Kalin told me we could never speak of that night again. And if I tried to talk to him about it, he would say he had no clue as to what I was talking about. He told me not to worry, that Sayer would be gone by morning and that I had nothing to fear. When I asked him what Sayer did to piss him off, Kalin simply replied that it was his business.

At first I felt guilty that I had allowed such pain to be brought to another human. I felt like a lowly sadist once I was alone. But one look at Akiza's beautiful sleeping form made all of my guilt disappear. I would do anything to keep her safe, and my sympathy for Sayer became nonexistent next to my affections for Akiza.

I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

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><p>Like it? Be sure to review and let me know!<p>

I'll try to update as soon as I can, but my schedule is pretty full for a while.


	5. Chapter 4: Life Lessons

Hello everyone.

I asked in my oneshot Afterglow which story you guys wanted me to update, and the majority was in favor of this one. I'm sorry about the lack of updates in the past few months, but college and work leave me little free time.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5Ds, only my own characters and plot.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Life Lessons<strong>

After the whole Sayer incident, an all-consuming worry ate through me for days.

When I woke up the morning after, I realized in hindsight how many risks I had taken. True, Kalin and I gave Sayer the beating he deserved, but now the danger Sayer presented was greater than ever. If he chose to retaliate, I could've been locked up in the Facility for years, and then there would've be no one left to protect Akiza.

But the more I worried, the more apparent it became that my fears were misplaced. Akiza came home from work that day particularly happy because Sayer had been absent from his duties. Her day, she said, was much less stressful without having to watch her back for that snake. Seeing Akiza smile again was a joyful sight, but the worry persisted. Perhaps he was just waiting to strike back.

The next day, Akiza came home with a smile again. Another absence by Sayer, she told us. Jack and Crow speculated as to why the psychic hadn't been showing up for his job, and I simply feigned ignorance. More trepidation settled in, despite Kalin's promise of safety.

Two days later, Sayer still hadn't shown up. Akiza was back to her normal self, laughing along with the rest of us, giving me heart-warming smiles in the morning, enjoying life instead of surviving it. That weekend was a happy time in my memory, where Akiza and I forgot the stresses of everyday life and simply enjoyed each other's presence. We laid together on the roof and watched the stars for the first time in weeks.

On Monday, Kalin's promise was validated. We were working on our runners in the garage when Akiza gave us the best piece of news yet.

"You mean he just transferred back to the northern district?" Jack asked.

Akiza nodded, tightening a bolt on her runner. "Yeah. The director came on the intercom today and told us without any explanation. We were all pleased, seeing as Sayer was fairly unpopular."

Jack and Crow simply nodded at this, but I could tell from Akiza's scowl that she felt much more than a mild distaste towards Sayer. I didn't blame her. I would've still wanted to kill the bastard if I hadn't seen his face smashed in by Kalin's furious blows.

"Well I say good riddance," I replied. Everyone promptly agreed.

True to our words, Kalin and I never spoke about that night. I still wondered what Sayer had done to deserve such a savage beating from my silver-haired friend, but I didn't question it. Akiza was safe and smiling, and that's all that mattered to me. Perhaps that was what Kalin was trying to teach me; his reasons didn't matter as long as I could justify his actions.

In the end, I accepted it as a dark act of charity. And Kalin would soon teach me a new lesson, this one much more curious than the last.

I was walking through the starlit docks at midnight, as I always did when my mind was restless. Whenever I was faced with a problem at work or while building our Duel Runners, a walk through the docks would always reveal the solution. It was my place of separate peace, or rather, a peaceful state of mind in which I could achieve a clarity above that of my normal capacity. The runners were the reason for my troubled mind this time.

As I walked, still not able to glean an answer, I thought of my friendship with Akiza. We had been getting closer in the past week in the wake of Sayer's departure, for which I was thankful. But close as we grew, we were still just friends, as we had been for almost two decades now. My feelings and fears regarding Akiza have already been made clear, so I will not broach the subject further.

It was with thoughts of my difficulties with Duel Runners and of the love of my life that I met Kalin at Pier 7. He was staring over the sea at New Domino City, the ultimate warden that guarded us in our prison.

"Get my message?" he asked.

I nodded. "Why did you want to meet here?" I asked.

Kalin shrugged. "It seemed like a fitting place." He kept turning over a smooth stone in his hand as his eyes remained locked on the distant city lights.

I chuckled at the sight, thinking back to my childhood. "You know, I used to come out here as a kid and skip rocks at the frigates that passed by," I said. "Back then, I actually believed if I threw one hard enough, I could get one's attention. I believed it might rescue my friends and me from this place and take us somewhere better. But unfortunately..." I trailed off.

"...but unfortunately the ship never came," Kalin finished, chucking the stone off the pier. It hit the water with a soundless splash before sinking into the deep blue depths.

I gave a sigh, feeling nostalgia for a world I never knew, one where Akiza and I could live in peace together, away from the pressures of the Satellite. But such a thing was wishful thinking, and I immediately dismissed the idea.

"Listen," I said. "I just want to thank you for Sayer-...erm, for what you did last week. Everything has been so much better without you-know-who."

Kalin gave me a piercing stare for a moment before nodding. It was the first mention of it made between us, and there was a silent understanding that it would be the last.

"Anyways, why did you want to meet me?" I said.

"Well," Kalin said. "We haven't had much bonding time, so I want to show you something. I think you'll like it."

It was true, outside of work and the few run-ins we had, Kalin and I never shared any 'quality time'. My first reaction was hesitance, but then it occurred to me that this might be a great opportunity to find out more about Kalin.

"Okay, " I said. "So what did you have in mind?"

"You'll see," was the only reply I got. I would soon come to hate those two words.

We walked through the streets of the city without a trace of urgency in our steps. You could always tell who was a Security Officer by the way they walked; back straight, eyes forward, direction in every step. They had a place to go, orders to carry out, but us people of the Satellite were already in our final resting places. We were in no hurry to get to nowhere.

A light mist had settled over the city as we walked, and I breathed in the cool, moist air. I turned to see Kalin eyeballing me. "You seem troubled," he remarked.

I chuckled. "I'm not that easy to read, am I?"

"Like a polygraph," he said. "You should relax, a troubled expression doesn't suit you. Let the assholes in charge around here be the troubled ones."

I gave a genuine laugh at this. "You're right, but we've been having trouble with our Duel Runners lately. We seriously overestimated the quality of the ECU chips we were going to use. If we continued with our current design, we wouldn't even be able to outrun a car. And if we tried, the engine would blow out."

Kalin rolled his eyes. "Just smuggle the parts in. You've done it before, and I'll still cover for you."

"I would, but Duel Runner ECU chips aren't exactly factory issue," I said. "The second someone saw the manifest, they would be onto me. And you know what happens to smugglers around here."

Kalin chuckled. "I certainly do," he said. He lifted his arm to reveal a dark yellow mark.

My eyes widened. "You've been in the Facility before?"

"Almost," he replied. "They bagged and tagged me, but they couldn't keep me caged. That's why I don't have a criminal mark on my face, only my arm." I opened my mouth to speak. "And before you ask, what I did to get arrested is none of your business."

I spent a moment in indignant silence before accepting this.

I would later find out that Kalin had been caught slashing the tires of a security vehicle. It took four officers to subdue him. When they got to the local Security outpost, they put a 'temporary' marker on Kalin's arm and detained him there since curfew had passed, and prisoners were not allowed to be transported until morning. When the sun rose, Kalin walked free in the stolen uniform of a Security Officer while his captor woke up with a throbbing headache in a Facility jail cell.

It took three days before Security realized a switch was made, and an entire week before anyone figured out what the hell had happened.

After walking a little farther, Kalin and I came across a run down building with peeling paint and two towering men at the door. It was becoming a habit for Kalin to bring me to shady places with scary people. He walked up the steps and spoke with one of the men, who immediately let Kalin pass. Kalin motioned for me to follow, and I reluctantly complied.

Down a stairwell we went and into a lively, warmly lit room.

Tables were scattered around the floor with people occupying almost half of them. They drank beverages from tall glasses and chatted with each other. There was a long counter, behind which a man was serving drinks from opaque bottles. The furniture was in rough condition, and the cups had little impurities in the glass work, but it was the closest thing to a bar I had ever seen.

Kalin sat down at a stool at the counter, and I did the same. Frankly, I was perplexed by the whole situation.

"Welcome to the nightlife of the Satellite," he said, holding his arms outward to present the ruddy walls of the room.

"Thank...I guess," I replied. "So why did you bring me here?"

"You never slow down, do you?" Kalin asked, holding up two fingers to the guy behind the counter. "Does there always have to be a reason? Can't we just act on impulse and live? Yusei, just let your stoic walls crumble for an hour or two. You say you need a reason to try something new? I say stop trying to be perfect, man. I say let's throw caution to the wind and do something worth remembering. I say let's evolve!"

I was transfixed on his speech. Kalin shrugged his shoulders as the bartender set two glasses of foamy liquid in front of us.

"Kalin, you know we're underage right?" I said.

"Indeed we are, Yusei. Indeed we are," Kalin replied. He picked up his glass and downed it in a few seconds. I took one sniff of the brew and gently pushed it away after the strong scent of alcohol reached my nostrils.

Kalin set his glass down. "Agh, warm beer tastes like piss!" he said. "But what's good is good. We can't all build Duel Runners as an act of defiance. Some of us just have to resort to consuming contraband in a shady speakeasy."

I shook my head at this. Kalin did have a point though. I was very fortunate to be in the position I held at the factories. The warm light was very relaxing, and I was about to ask Kalin who owned the place when I saw the bartender surreptitiously slip Kalin a small object. There were no words exchanged, not even eye contact was made. A closer look revealed the object to be a keycard.

"What's that?" I asked.

"What we came here for," Kalin replied. He held up the card and leaned closer. "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. This place is not just a speakeasy. What you're actually sitting in is the operating post of one of the biggest smuggling rings in the entire Satellite."

I was shocked. "Are you serious?" He nodded. "Then how do you know the bartender and those two bouncers by the door?"

Kalin shot me a proud smirk. "Well, you could say I'm their go-to-guy whenever a job needs doing. I've been smuggling for years, and I'm very good at my craft. You're not the only guy that doctors factory orders around here. I've been covering other smugglers there for years, and I thought you were just another guy I was supposed to look out for. Turns out, you just happened to pick the right place and time to start breaking the law."

I felt proud for some odd reason. Even though my smuggling had remained undetected by pure luck alone, there was merit in the fact that Kalin was willing to assist me.

Kalin stood up. "Anyways, that's just a little about me. Now, onto the real reason I brought you here. Tonight, we're going to get you everything you need to build four Duel Runners. ECU chips, duel interfaces, turbo drivers, the whole nine yards. And this," he gestured at the keycard, "is out ticket to success."

I sat frozen for a moment. Finding all those parts in one place was virtually impossible. But if it could be done, Kalin would find a way. I could only imagine the look of joy on Akiza's face after I told her we could finally complete out runners. After a speechless moment, a wave of gratitude washed over me. "I don't know what to say," I replied. "Except thank you. This is one of the kindest things anyone's ever done for me."

"Don't thank me yet," he replied. Kalin glanced over his shoulder for a moment. "I need to take care of one more thing before we go. Wait here."

I nodded, a feeling of excitement building in my stomach, and Kalin walked over to the other side of the room. There were two occupied tables, one where four burly men sat while drinking and laughing. The other held a woman in her early forties. She wore a tired expression as she stared into space.

Kalin approached the woman. She gave a surprised look as she was snapped out of her thoughts by his greeting. To say the situation was quizzical was an understatement. Kalin spoke a few lines to her, and I saw her shift uncomfortably in her seat while a ripe red blush crossed her face.

I half-grinned. Was Kalin flirting with her?

I could tell the woman was trying to end the conversation, but Kalin wouldn't take a hint. What was he trying to do? He got progressively closer to the woman, while the blush on her face darkened. She held up one hand as she shrunk back from Kalin's advance, and my eyes widened when I saw a golden band on her fourth finger.

Was Kalin flirting with a married woman?

I had been so transfixed with this I barely even noticed the man who returned from the restroom. He walked over to Kalin and the woman, tapping the silver-haired teen on the shoulder. Kalin turned and uttered some pithy remark to the man, who very subtlety shrunk back. He continued talking with the woman and placed a hand on her thigh, which made her yelp in discomfort.

Was Kalin hitting on a married woman in front of her husband?

My mouth was agape at this point. What the hell was going on? The husband tapped Kalin on the shoulder once again, and this time Kalin turned around and shoved the man back. The husband stood shocked for a moment before Kalin held his arms out wide, sending the clear message of 'what are you gonna do about it?'

Infuriated, the man lashed out and struck Kalin in the face. Kalin was tough though, and he stayed on his feet. The teen threw a careless punch which the husband easily dodged. The man delivered several sharp blows to Kalin's face and torso, and down went my friend. He crashed into a table, making the fall all the more ostentatious.

I winced. In a second, I was beside Kalin, helping him back on his feet.

"Did I get 'em?" Kalin asked, still disoriented.

"Not exactly," I replied. "What the hell was that all about? Do you hit on married women all the time?"

Kalin laughed and pointed to the couple he harassed. I looked over to find them furiously kissing on their table like a pair of newlyweds on their honeymoon. I couldn't help the light blush that crossed my face.

"I've been watching that couple for years," Kalin said as he spit out some blood. "Their kids are all grown up, and their marriage has been struggling. No spark, ya know? No passion like there was twenty years ago. They come here every few nights and just sit. No conversation, no interaction, just silence. I bet this is the first time they've been intimate in years."

The couple was still making out, and no one was trying to stop them.

I looked back at Kalin, who was once again wearing a proud smirk. A spark flickered in my mind, and I smiled too as I understood. Of course a woman would find it extremely attractive for a man to defend her honor. And the husband probably enjoyed seeing his wife be amazed at his manliness.

"So, hit on a married women in front of her husband..." I said.

"And your bruises will rekindle a dead romance," Kalin finished.

He gestured to the door, taking a bag of ice the bartender had wordlessly prepared. "Come on, let's go before they start having sex on the table."

I nodded and followed.

That was the way Kalin always operated. He kept me in the dark during the journey, seeing if I would follow him on faith. Only in the end would the paradoxes make sense. But the more faith I placed in him, the easier it became. I hadn't been caught smuggling, Akiza was safe, and now we were about to be able to finish our duel runners in a matter of days.

And as I walked with Kalin into the night, I thought that perhaps even a coward like me could become a man of courage.

* * *

><p>Like it? Hate it? Please review and let me know!<p>

Again, sorry for my lack of updates. I promise to try and update more frequently.


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